[BITList] RR Engine for A-380

[John Feltham]

G'day Hugh,

On 25/11/2008, at 7:31 PM, HUGH wrote:

 > At the very end of the process, who should drop a spanner through
 > a handhole at the very top but the Chief.

 > Never forget Sod's Law.

Indeed.

I was posted to a Sqdn in Germany in 1957. Lord help us, they had  
among other aircraft, a dozen Avro Ansons. At the beginning of WWII  
they were front-line bombers!

See...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Anson

I those days it was a cardinal sin to lose a tool inside an a/c.

I was working on an instrument behind the instrument panel. To do that  
you had to place your bum in the pilot's seat, facing backwards. Put  
your feet over the back of the pilot's seat. The angle your body so  
that you could get your head down over or at the side of the foot  
pedals for the rudder. You were then feet up in the air.

A very comfortable place to work in!

While using a 4 BS spanner it slipped from my hand and bounced it way  
down inside the fuselage.

Doing the right thing but scared stiff I wen tin to see the Flight  
Sgt. I was expecting a dressing down. But, good man that he was he  
told me that I had done the right thing. He called for an airframe  
fitter and off we went out to the a/c.

He banged his hand on the underside of the Anson and to my surprise I  
heard the spanner 'jump up and down'.

Obviously he had done this many a time.

The fitter soon had the 'dzus' fasteners open and a sharp knife was  
run around the hatch and the hatch removed. And, there was my spanner.

We left the fitter to replace the hatch and apply some fabric and a  
drop of dope.

The Flt Sgt said to me don't make a habit of it.

Two weeks later, I did it again!

I was outside banging away on the hatch but I couldn't hear any  
spanner jumping.

Back to the Flt Sgt with knees knocking!

he went out with another fitter and banged on the hatch with the same  
result as me. Nothing.

He told the fitter to have a look inside. The fitter came out with the  
spanner in his hand.

The spanner had only travelled a little way down and had lodged neatly  
across two pipes where it stopped.

I won't tell you what the Flt. Sgt. had to say!




ooroo

If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door.

Anon.